CNBC and the “Rise Above” campaign

Ryan Chittum of Columbia Journalism Review is critical of CNBC’s “Rise Above” campaign, which he argues is mere political posturing.

Chittum writes, “So it is with CNBC’s ‘Rise Above’ crusade, which has blanketed its airwaves and adorned its lapels since the day after the election with pleas for a solution to the so-called ‘fiscal cliff.’

“You’ll note that CNBC has not Risen Above for the common good on issues like stimulating a depressed economy, ameliorating the housing catastrophe, or prosecuting its Wall Street sources/dinner partners for the subprime fiasco. But make no mistake: even if it had, it would have been stepping outside the boundaries of traditional American journalism practice into political advocacy. And that’s precisely what it’s doing here, at further cost to its credibility as a mainstream news organization instead of some HD version of Wall Street CCTV.

“The big question: Why is a news organization running what’s effectively a political campaign for Simpson-Bowles, complete with thirty-second spots and campaign buttons? Look, kids. You can get your very own Rise Above pin, wrapped in the flag, just like your favorite business-news personalities! Roger Ailes himself must blush at this kind of grandstanding, but I have a hard time believing the business class and CNBC would be so worked up over this austerity program if it weren’t for the major tax increases contained therein.

“The day after the election, Joe Kernen read off the prompter, with all the enthusiasm of a TASS newscaster, ‘We are ‘Rising Above’ the partisan rhetoric to find a solution for the fiscal cliff.'”

Chris Roush is the Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

The recent offer by Geitner and company suggests to me that democratic leadership is not serious and has no clue about how our economy works. Approximately 2/3 of jobs created the last decade came from the small business that Obama seeks to tax substantially higher with both Obamacare and his desire to revert to pre-bush cuts. I suggest that Republicans call Democrats bluff and give them what they want with one proviso. They lose their Jobs or their pensions if either unemployment rises above 9%, household wealth drops by more than 10%, and the loss of their pensions if we still have a deficit in 10 years. The policies they are putting forth look earily similiar to what many European countries are doing and we know what they look like. The private sector is held to higher standards than the Government. When you are responsible with the livlihood of not only this generation but future generations they should be held to higher standards. If they can’t put there own livlihood on the line for putting in the policies they want, then there plan is’nt worth spit.

We the citizens of America had hired (elected) members of Congress and the President to do the necessary work to protect us and the economy. To help businesses to hire and to keep our economic engine healthy and running. So far they have failed to do so and the American people are freightened and very concerned about the possible turmoil ahead. We must send a clear, definite message: stop vacationing, get back to work. Stop gabbing and start communicating. Put your personal ambitions aside and start to serve the public. Rise Above your biased political interests and start serving the public who hired you. If not, we can also fire you.

I like the Buffett plan. In my opinion our legislature has been voting themsleves perks and protection for decades. This needs to end. They need to put themselves on the same playing field we are on. I wish they would stop calling Social Security an entitlement program. We pay specifically for that and congress keeps using to pay for everything but its original intent. It would be nice to see our congressman start working for the people instead of the party. The party didn’t elect them.